CMS Launches New Tool to Compare SNF Vaccination Rates

CMS Launches New Tool to Compare SNF Vaccination Rates

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched a new tool to make nursing home COVID-19 vaccination data easily accessible. Skilled Nursing News reports data available includes percentage of staff and residents vaccinated as well as state and national percentages. This tool will also allow comparison of vaccination rates for facilities that receive federal funding.

This new tool can be accessed at medicare.gov under the Care Compare feature. Nursing homes can also be compared against each other based on overall rating and distance. Reported data comes from the Center for Disease Control’s National Healthcare Safety Network.

As of May, nursing homes have been mandated to report vaccination data for staff and residents on a weekly basis. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, CMS administrator, stated “CMS wants to empower nursing home residents, their families and caregivers with the information they need when choosing care providers for their loved ones. CMS knows that nursing home staff want to protect their residents and is calling on them to get vaccinated now.”

In mid-August, the Biden administration announced that all nursing home staff must get vaccinated and later this mandate was extended to all health care providers including hospitals, dialysis centers, home health agencies and more.

It is expected that CMS will issue an interim final rule with certain requirements on the mandate in October for skilled nursing facilities.

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